


Freaks and Geeks

by lls_mutant



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-11
Updated: 2010-03-11
Packaged: 2017-10-07 21:43:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lls_mutant/pseuds/lls_mutant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because people grow up.  The Helo-used-to-shove-Gaeta-into-his-locker story I always wanted to write.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Freaks and Geeks

"Come on!" Felix shouted, banging on the metal as best he could. It wasn't like there was a lot of room in here to get any sort of swing. "Someone let me out! Please!" There were slivers of light on his face, and he imagined that he might run out of air soon. The thought had a sort of pleasant morbidity to it.

He thought he heard footsteps.

"Please!" he shouted again. "Let me out of here!"

The footsteps approached, and he heard a sigh. "Again, Mr. Gaeta?" a stern female voice said. "I'll get the janitor. Just hang on."

Felix sighed and tried to relax, going back to the running-out-of-air scenario. Technically, it wouldn't happen. He knew that. If they'd blocked the vents it might, but they'd left them free. But if they'd blocked them and he'd died, what would happen then? When they opened his locker and found his corpse and his Colonial Fleet stickers and his photographs, would they realize how much they had lost? That if anyone would ever _look_, they'd find that Felix Gaeta-

There was a sound in the lock, and the door swung open. He fell out of the locker and Mr. Martins caught him by the arm.

"You okay there, son?" he said, putting his keys back in his pocket.

Felix nodded.

Sister Olivia sighed. "Who was it this time, Mr. Gaeta? Mr. Polander? Mr. McMars?"

"Karl Agathon," Felix muttered. He wasn't sure ratting Agathon out was the best idea, but damn it, he needed _some_ sort of revenge, and five foot, 98 pound freshmen didn't often successfully beat up six foot tall senior varsity pyramid players. That was why he'd made it into his locker in the first place.

"Mr. Agathon," Sister Olivia said doubtfully. She glared at Felix. "I think you'd just better get on with your day, Mr. Gaeta, rather than spreading stories."

"I wasn't spreading a story!" Felix insisted. "I've never lied about that!"

"He's right, ma'am," Mr. Martins agreed. "Felix here doesn't lie about this sort of thing."

"We'll see," Sister Olivia said. She glanced at her watch. "I believe it's your lunch period, Mr. Gaeta."

Felix turned back to his locker and grabbed his lunch bag, and then looked at Mr. Martins. "Thanks," he said, before hurrying off.

It was _too_ Karl Agathon. But apparently, no one was going to believe that.

***

"Shag-athon?" Ben asked, looking up from his sketchpad as Felix sat down beside him. "The one, the only, the irresistible- according to you- _Shag-athon_ shoved you in your locker?"

"Frak off," Felix said crossly, opening his lunch bag and wolfing down the contents. "He really did."

"Oh, I don't doubt that he did in the least," Ben said, turning back to his sketch. "I've never doubted it at all. He's an asshole. _You're_ the one who insisted he was different from all the other jocks."

"Yeah, well, I was wrong," Felix said around a mouthful of sandwich. He pulled out his band music and studied it. "Don't know why I'm even keeping up with this anyway," he muttered.

"Let me guess. He gave you a hard time about the music this time?" Felix just shoved another bite of sandwich in his mouth. Ben sighed. "Come on, Felix. You can't let that get to you. On every single Colony, hell- on every single world ever to sustain life, the jocks have made fun of the band geeks. That's just the way it _is_. Even on planets where the principle life forms swim in ammonia and make music on nitrogen crystals, the jocks shove the band geeks in their lockers." Ben patted his stomach. "See, it's times like these that it's good to carry a little extra. They couldn't shove me in a locker if they tried."

"They just come up with something else to do to you," Felix said sourly. "Remind me why I'm doing this again? Why do I play music for people who clearly can't stand me?"

"Because if you stick with it, you'll make drum major in a few years, and if you make drum major, that will look great on your application to the Picon Colonial Academy, and you'll get in with no problem."

"Oh. That's right." Felix sighed. He glanced down at Ben's drawings again. "Wish the Academy would take me based on talent alone, like the Arts College will take you."

Ben swallowed half a can of soda and then let out a belch that shook the cafeteria. "We can't all be so lucky."

***

The school track meet was one of the few physical education requirements that Felix had been looking forward to this year. The six teams were assigned at random, with representatives from all four grades. Felix liked it because no one ever expected shrimpy little math, science, and band geeks to excel athletically, but he was as good runner.

To his delight, Brother Thomas put him as anchor on the 4x800 relay. And to his not-so-delight, Karl Agathon was running the lead leg.

"Great," Agathon said when he saw Felix approach. "We got _Felix_. We're going to lose."

Felix didn't say anything; he just turned away and began to stretch out. Despite himself, he couldn't help watching Karl as he warmed up for the relay. Karl was tall, good-looking, muscular, and in a lot of the honors classes. No matter what Ben said, he was worth watching. Of course, Ben wouldn't find anyone worth watching without tits and blond hair, so his opinion didn't really matter anyway.

Their team lined up at the starting line, and Felix felt his heart pounding. So often he was on the sidelines, but today was going to be different. He could _feel_ it. The gun went off, and the lead runners sprinted away.

Karl got them an early lead, running as strong as he could. Felix couldn't take his eyes off him, watching him stride around the track, half-wishing that he could look like that in his track uniform, half-wishing that when they won this race, Karl would look at him differently. By the end of Karl's leg, they had a huge lead established.

"Great job," Felix worked up the nerve to say. Karl just ignored him as if he hadn't spoken.

He'd notice, though. He'd notice when Felix… Felix watched the race, his brow furrowing. Andrew was running the second leg, and the gap between him and the next runner was narrowing. A lot, Felix realized. And when Andrew fumbled the handoff to Jake, the baton bouncing on the track before they could retrieve it, they went from first to fourth.

Jake finished his first lap, and Felix took his place on the track, watching as the fifth place runner passed Jake. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. He glanced over at Karl, but Karl wasn't watching him. He was swearing at Jake, although Jake probably couldn't hear it across the field.

Then again, maybe he could. Karl was swearing pretty loudly.

He braced himself for the handoff, and as soon as the metal baton hit his hand, he was off and running as fast as he could go. It wasn't just that he couldn't screw this up… it was that this was his chance. This was his chance to be a hero, to be the star… and when he glanced in the stands, he noticed that there were college and military scouts watching. He was only a freshman, but maybe he could get one of them to remember him…

He ran as hard as he could.

They didn't win. They didn't even come in second. But Felix brought them up from fifth to third, and he was only ten meters behind the second place runner.

It wasn't bad, he realized as he bent over, gasping for breath and trying not to vomit.

"Nice job," Jake told him, and Andrew nodded.

Karl just kicked the dirt. "I _knew_ we were going to lose," he muttered.

***

Karl Agathon graduated at the end of the year, near the top of his class. To Felix's glee, he wasn't accepted into the Picon Colonial Academy, although he did go to the Caprican one. Not quite as prestigious, but close, and even better it meant that when Felix went to the Picon Colonial Academy in three years, he wouldn't have to deal with him. Sure, they'd both be military, but the Colonial Fleet was a big place. He never had to see Karl Agathon again.

***

"So, you did it, man," Ben said, grinning. He adjusted his cap so the tassel wasn't brushing his nose. "You're really going to the Picon Colonial Academy?"

"They took me," Felix said, grinning widely. He shuffled his note cards in his hands. "I can't wait."

"I still think you're crazy," Ben said.

Felix sighed and looked at Ben enviously. He looked like a salutatorian. He'd grown and slimmed down some, and his girlfriend Cassie said that his glasses made him look extremely academic. Felix himself had accepted that he was going to be five feet tall forever. But the Academy had as well, and he was in. They had a tendency to like valedictorians.

"I can't wait to leave this place behind," Felix admitted. "The only one from school I'll miss is you."

"Don't get all sentimental on me," Ben said, grinning easily. "We still have to do our speeches."

"Yeah, right." Felix sighed and adjusted his cap. "You ready?"

"Let's go face the world."

***

"You glory in this."

"I'm sorry, what?" Felix looked up from the mud he had just crawled through to see Molly Westers standing over the obstacle course, her hands on her hips.

"The harder an assignment is, the more fun you have with it," she accused him. "You're insane."

"That's what my friend Ben always said," Felix said. He stood up. As he did, he heard fabric tear.

Molly giggled. "Eating too much of the fine Fleet cuisine?" she asked.

The uniform hadn't split across the ass, but in the knee. Felix studied it for a moment and then shrugged. But when he straightened all the way up, he noticed that he didn't look Molly in the eye. He was a little bit… yes, he was _taller_ than her.

"Well, I'll be damned."

***

The Academy was everything Felix had ever dreamed, and more.

He majored in genetics, and had some of the best equipment in the world to work on. He had excellent teachers, who enjoyed having a student who was so passionate about his classes.

He made a few friends, Molly and Vinnie and his roommate Noah. But even among the people that he wasn't friends with, people mainly left him alone. They were too busy with their own coursework and their own problems to care about a teacher's pet geek who was just as happy to leave them alone. He still played in the band, still ran track in the spring, and he did exceedingly well in his military classes, especially tactical.

But the day Felix realized his much his life had changed was the all-academy war games his third year. He was headed to the screens to look at the roster when he heard two of the seniors talking.

"Alpha team?"

"Yeah. You too?"

"Yeah. Who's commanding?"

The first consulted the screen again. "Gaeta."

"Gaeta?" The second one began to smile. "We're gonna _win_."

***

"Well?" Molly asked him.

Felix took a deep breath and flipped over the card. His eyes widened, and he almost jumped into the air. "Battlestar _Galactica_," he read.

Molly squealed and hugged him.

"What did you get?" he asked.

"Stationed on Picon," she said. "I'm commanding an engineering group at the Erastas base."

"That's in Sion, right?"

"Yeah."

"My best friend lives there. You should look him up."

Molly grinned. "Maybe I'll do that." She stood on her tiptoes and tilted her chin to kiss him on the cheek. "Good luck, Lieutenant," she said. "I'm sure you'll do great."

***

He knew the standard layout of a battlestar, and they'd toured three battlestars during their senior year. But it was still a very different experience than stepping off a Raptor, a bag slung over his shoulder and reporting for duty.

A tall soldier in duty blues was waiting, and Felix walked over to him and saluted. "Lieutenant Gaeta, reporting for duty, sir."

"Welcome to the _Galactica_, Lieutenant. I'm Lieutenant Agathon."

The bottom dropped out of Felix's stomach. No. _No frakking way._

But Agathon didn't seem to notice a thing. "Was your trip up all right?"

"Yes," Felix began, trying not to stutter. "It was very… yes. It was fine, sir."

Agathon grinned. "You don't need to call me 'sir', Gaeta. Most everyone here calls me Helo. Come on. I'll show you where to put your gear, and then you can report to Commander Adama. He's expecting you."

"Thank you, sir."

Agathon rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

He kept up a monologue as they walked through the halls, explaining the layout of the ship and _Galactica_'s peculiarities to Felix as they walked. "And, of course," Agathon was saying, "the Old Man doesn't want the ship to be networked."

"The Cylons aren't exactly-"

"Hey, those are orders," Agathon said. But the twinkle in his eye said he thought that the Commander was being a little overcautious himself. "Where are you coming from, anyway?"

"Picon Colonial Academy," Felix said.

Agatho- Helo whistled. "Haven't had one of you guys in a while. I have a feeling you'll have some fun getting used to the lower tech level here."

"I can manage it, sir." Felix decided to risk it. "You look familiar."

"Really?" Helo looked amused. "Now that you mention it, your name is kind of familiar, too. Gaeta, you said?"

"Yes."

"Where are you from?"

"Originally from Picon, but I've been living on Caprica since I left home. Went to the Academy there." He looked at Felix for a long moment, and then shook his head. "It'll come to me, I guess."

"Yeah," Felix said, hoping it wouldn't. "I guess."

***

The CIC wasn't quite what Felix expected, but then, he wasn't sure what he was looking for. Something like one of the Mercury class battlestars, he supposed, sleek and clean. Not clunky looking and rusty. But Felix was realistic- he was 22, on his first real rotation, and assigned to the CIC of a battlestar. Of _course_ it was going to be one of the older ones, with a less prestigious commander.

Adama was a bit of a joke these days from what Felix heard, but at the same time, a recommendation from him was still quite valuable. Felix resolved that he was going to earn it, and if it hadn't been for Agathon, might have spent the entire first week in the CIC.

"Hey, Gaeta," Helo said, catching him coming out of the mess hall. "I haven't seen you down in the rec room at all."

"Yeah, well, I…"

"The Commander will understand if you actually don't work on your shifts off," Helo laughed. "Come on. You'll burn out if you keep this up." He draped a casual, easy arm around Felix's shoulders. "Let's go. It's time we found out what kind of card player you are."

On their way to the rec room, they stopped by the desk where mail was distributed. The sergeant in charge handed Felix a paper wrapped package. "This just came for you today, Lieutenant," he said.

Felix regarded it curiously, and then tore it open. "Whatcha get?" Helo asked around a mouth full of cookies.

It was a book- Ben's new graphic novel, in fact. The cover was blazoned with the title _Questos Legion_, with a skinny, curly-haired man in spandex glaring at the world, and a rounder man with a cape blowing in the wind and crossed arms beside him. _Volume III_ was at the bottom.

"Is that the new Questos Legion book?" Helo asked, looking over Felix's shoulder. "They're good. I went to high school with the guy who writes those."

Felix stared at him. "Yeah," he said. "So did I."

"You went to Ephrasa?" Helo said incredulously. "What's your first name?"

"Felix."

"Oh." Helo blinked for a long minute, and then shrugged. "Doesn't ring a bell," he said, looking down at the book. "Come on."

Felix nodded and followed. Rather than looking at Helo and betraying how outrageous it was that the boy who shoved him into his locker didn't even _remember_ him nine years later, he opened the cover. Ben always put a note inside.

This time was no exception. There was a folded letter, but there was also an inscription in black magic marker. _Hope you like this adventure- you might recognize the puddle scene. By the way, your friend Molly called me. I so owe you one. –Ben._ Felix grinned.

Helo pushed open the hatch to the rec room. "Hey guys. Fresh meat," he announced, pushing Felix in while Felix was thumbing through the new issue.

An attractive dark haired woman wearing tanks and fatigues smiled at them. "No dealing from the bottom of the deck with a first timer, Helo," she admonished. She stood and extended her hand to Felix. "I'm Sharon. Boomer."

"Felix. Nice to meet you." He looked around the room, shifting a little uncomfortably as all of the eyes turned to him. There would be some sort of hazing, some sort of prank, Felix knew that. How tonight went would probably determine just how serious it was. If they liked him, his initiation would be embarrassing but hysterical. If they didn't….

He heard a laugh from across the room. Sharon turned, and then looked him up and down and then looked at Helo again. "Better keep him away from Starbuck," she said.

Helo put that companionable arm around Felix's shoulder again. "I was already planning on it," he said. "Come on. Let's get a game together and play."

After a hand and a little people watching, Felix got the idea, and it floored him. Karl Agathon was actually protecting _him._

His world was upside down.

***

"You're kidding," Ben said, ordering three more beers. He handed one to Molly with a kiss, and then the other one to Felix. "You and Karl Agathon are friends?"

"He's visiting his family on leave, too," Felix said. "I swear to the Gods. He said he might even join us here tonight."

"You. And Karl Agathon."

"He's read your book."

"Sounds like someone's a closet case," Molly opined, sipping her beer. "No offense, babe, but it's mainly geeks that read your book. Even if they don't like to admit it."

"Of course it is," Ben scoffed. "The jocks would never get half the lines."

"It's still kind of galling that he didn't even recognize me," Felix groused.

"Yeah, well, you've changed a lot," Ben said. Molly nodded. "I mean, you've grown a good ten inches, you must have put on, what-"

"Sixty pounds?" Molly asked. Felix nodded.

"Your hair is shorter, and you're not in ninth grade anymore. And neither is he."

"And here's a crazy proposition," Molly said, "maybe _he's_ changed. Maybe he's being nice because people do dumb things in high school, and it in no way defines who they are."

"Maybe," Felix said. He knew it was true, but it was still so hard to _process_ sometimes.

Ben shrugged. "Bring out your drum major's hat," he suggested. "That'll get him to recognize you." He took another drink of beer.

"Funny. I haven't picked up a mellophone in years," Felix said. "Agathon's not the only one that's changed." Ben let out a belch. Molly rolled her eyes good-naturedly, and Felix sighed. "But some things will always stay the same."

***

"Oh, good Gods," Helo said, sitting down by Felix in the mess hall. "How many times can you read that book?"

"It's only my third time," Felix said, flushing. He moved to pull the book closer to him, but he was too late. Helo grabbed it.

"_Human Genetics: Fabricating the Future_ by Gaius Baltar," Helo read. He made a face and then flipped the cover over. "You've read everything he's ever written, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Kelly says you've got a poster of him over your bed."

"I do not!" Felix snapped, his cheeks flaring red.

"Relax, Gaeta, I'm only joking," Helo laughed. "Kelly hasn't said anything like it."

"Sorry," Felix muttered. But he snuck another glance at the handsome face on the back cover, and Helo nudged him as he saw him looking.

"Just your type, huh?"

"I don't really _have_ a type," Felix said, _really_ not willing to go down that particular road. "It's just… Gods, Helo, do you have any idea how much this man is responsible for? How frakking _brilliant_ he is?"

"Smarter than you?"

"Yes. I-" the words hit Felix. "_You_ think I'm smart?"

"Yeah, well. Weren't you two years ahead in math in high school or something?" Helo looked back down at the book.

"I never told you that."

Helo shrugged.

"I hated high school," Felix heard himself saying. "A lot of people made my life miserable."

"I hated high school, too," Helo said. "Didn't much like who I was then."

"What do you mean?"

Helo shrugged. "When you're a teenager, everything seems to be about acceptance, you know? I wanted to be cool, I wanted to have friends… I was kind of a loner on the Pyramid team, and… well. So, I did some things I wasn't proud of, but that made them all seem to like me more."

"Mmm."

"I got what I deserved, though," Helo laughed. "I went to the Academy thinking I was the hottest thing to hit Caprica. And I got the shit kicked out of me. Not just for the first year, but for the first two years. Learned a lot."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Helo looked back down at the book. "You couldn't pay me to go back to high school and do the things I did then," he said. "I know better now."

Felix took the book back from him. "I have duty," he said slowly.

"I know." Helo stood up. "I'll see you around, okay?"

"Okay."

***

When the worlds ended, Helo and Boomer had landed on Caprica. Helo hadn't returned, but Gaius Baltar had in his place.

In some ways, it felt like all of Felix's birthdays had happened at once. Yes, it was the end of the world, but this was _Gaius Baltar._ And when Commander Adama assigned him to work with Baltar… Felix couldn't have ever asked for more, professionally.

But the end of the worlds had meant a lot of things. His parents were dead and gone. Ben and Molly were dead and gone… only three months after their wedding. Vinnie, Noah, Tim… all the people he'd been friends with. All the people that had ever harassed him, all the people that had hated him… all the people he'd ever known.

And Helo.

He loved working with Baltar- he'd never expected to be granted such an opportunity at such a time. Hell, he hadn't even expected such an opportunity at the best of times. And he had to admit that his feelings for Baltar exceeded hero worship, and he couldn't wait to get to the lab every day.

But he still couldn't help thinking that, brilliant mind or not, it wasn't a fair trade for Helo.

***

"Did you hear?"

"Another Eight."

"Starbuck and Helo brought her back."

"Wait- Helo's alive?"

Felix heard the whispers before he heard the official declaration. Helo was _alive._

He couldn't believe it. He stood up and left the rec room, wanting to run and find Helo. But as he rounded a corner, he had to stop.

Helo would be questioned by the brass. He'd probably be being examined by Cottle, given that he had spent so much time on a nuked out Caprica. Then he'd find the pilots, report back for duty, deal with everything else. A CIC officer that he was friends with would rank very low on the priority list for the day.

With a sigh, Felix headed for his lab.

But when he opened the hatch, Helo was sitting there on one of the stools, playing with a test tube. Felix stared at him, and Helo hopped off the stool and enfolded Felix in a huge bear hug.

"What the…" Felix patted Helo's shoulder awkwardly. "You're back."

"You didn't know?" Helo asked, releasing Felix.

"I'd just heard."

"Yeah, well." Helo shifted. "Listen, Felix. There's something I've been meaning to say for a long time now. I should have said it a long time ago, but I just never got up the guts. It was just too… you know? And when I was down on Caprica, I promised myself that if I made it back to _Galactica_, the first thing I was going to do was find you and say what I needed to say."

Felix arched an eyebrow. "You're not about to confess your undying love to me, are you?" he asked warily. "I'm not sure I could handle that."

Helo laughed. "No. Look, I'm really sorry that I shoved you in your locker back in high school."

"What?" Felix asked, incredulous.

"I said, I'm really sorry about high school," Helo repeated. "There's no excuse for it. You were there and you were an easy target, and I was dumb and being an ass. I'm sorry."

"I didn't think you remembered," Felix said.

"Well, I didn't at first," Helo admitted. "The name _Gaeta_ didn't ring a bell, because hardly anyone ever called you that. It was always Felix, or worse."

"Yeah." Although Felix didn't know what the _or worse_ necessarily was. He decided he didn't want to ask.

"It's been bothering me for a long time, ever since I put the pieces together," Helo continued. "But you never mentioned it, and I didn't know if _you'd_ forgotten. And if you had… I didn't want to bring it back up and for you to hate me."

"I don't hate you," Felix laughed. "I hadn't forgotten… but I kind of figured out that you weren't going to shove me into my locker here."

"You wouldn't fit anymore," Helo agreed, smiling. "By the way, I don't think he knows, but Baltar should thank you for saving his life."

"Me? You're the one who gave him your seat on the Raptor."

"Because I recognized him from your book." Helo grinned. "I hope he's been worth it."

Felix thought of the doctor, and thought of the days of grieving after the attacks. "I'd never say it was worth it," he said. "But thank you, from me."

Helo smiled. "So, it's all forgotten and forgiven?"

Felix smiled impishly. "Forgiven, yes. It has been for a long time. Forgotten? Hell no. I'm not _ever_ letting you live it down."


End file.
